The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Palette \Pal"ette\, n. [See Pallet a thin board.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. (Paint.) A thin, oval or square board, or tablet, with a
      thumb hole at one end for holding it, on which a painter
      lays and mixes his pigments. Hence, any other object,
      usually one with a flat surface, used for the same
      purpose. [Written also pallet.]
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Hence: The complete set of colors used by an artist or
      other person in creating an image, in any medium. The
      meaning of this term has been extended in modern times to
      include the set of colors used in a particular computer
      application, or the complete set of of colors available in
      computer displays or printing techniques.
      [PJC]

   3. Hence: The complete range of resources and techniques used
      in any art, such as music.
      [PJC]

   4. (Anc. Armor) One of the plates covering the points of
      junction at the bend of the shoulders and elbows.
      --Fairholt.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. (Mech.) A breastplate for a breast drill.
      [1913 Webster]

   Palette knife, a knife with a very flexible steel blade and
      no cutting edge, rounded at the end, used by painters to
      mix colors on the grinding slab or palette.

   To set the palette (Paint.), to lay upon it the required
      pigments in a certain order, according to the intended use
      of them in a picture. --Fairholt.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

pallet \pal"let\ (p[a^]l"l[e^]t), n. [OE. paillet, F. paillet a
   heap of straw, fr. paille straw, fr. L. palea chaff; cf. Gr.
   ? fine meal, dust, Skr. pala straw, pal[=a]va chaff. Cf.
   Paillasse.]
   A small and mean bed; a bed of straw. --Milton.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Pallet \Pal"let\, n. [Dim. of pale. See Pale a stake.] (Her.)
   A perpendicular band upon an escutcheon, one half the breadth
   of the pale.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Pallet \Pal"let\, n. [F. palette: af. It. paletta; prop. and
   orig., a fire shovel, dim. of L. pala a shovel, spade. See
   Peel a shovel.]
   1. (Paint.) Same as Palette.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Pottery)
      (a) A wooden implement used by potters, crucible makers,
          etc., for forming, beating, and rounding their works.
          It is oval, round, and of other forms.
      (b) A potter's wheel.
          [1913 Webster]

   3. (Gilding)
      (a) An instrument used to take up gold leaf from the
          pillow, and to apply it.
      (b) A tool for gilding the backs of books over the bands.
          [1913 Webster]

   4. (Brickmaking) A board on which a newly molded brick is
      conveyed to the hack. --Knight.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. (Mach.)
      (a) A click or pawl for driving a ratchet wheel.
      (b) One of the series of disks or pistons in the chain
          pump. --Knight.
          [1913 Webster]

   6. (Horology) One of the pieces or levers connected with the
      pendulum of a clock, or the balance of a watch, which
      receive the immediate impulse of the scape-wheel, or
      balance wheel. --Brande & C.
      [1913 Webster]

   7. (Mus.) In the organ, a valve between the wind chest and
      the mouth of a pipe or row of pipes.
      [1913 Webster]

   8. (Zool.) One of a pair of shelly plates that protect the
      siphon tubes of certain bivalves, as the Teredo. See
      Illust. of Teredo.
      [1913 Webster]

   9. A cup containing three ounces, -- formerly used by
      surgeons.
      [1913 Webster]

   10. A low movable platform used for temporary storage of
       objects so that they can be conveniently moved; it is
       commonly made of wooden boards, about 4 inches high, and
       typically has openings in the side into which the blades
       of a fork-lift truck may be inserted so as to lift and
       move the pallet and the objects on it.
       [PJC]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

pallet
    n 1: the range of colour characteristic of a particular artist
         or painting or school of art [syn: palette, pallet]
    2: a portable platform for storing or moving goods that are
       stacked on it
    3: a hand tool with a flat blade used by potters for mixing and
       shaping clay
    4: a mattress filled with straw or a pad made of quilts; used as
       a bed
    5: board that provides a flat surface on which artists mix
       paints and the range of colors used [syn: palette,
       pallet]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

24 Moby Thesaurus words for "pallet":
   air mattress, bean, bedding, belfry, bolster, chump, cushion, head,
   headpiece, innerspring mattress, litter, mat, mattress, noddle,
   noggin, noodle, pad, pillow, rug, sconce, sleeping bag, springs,
   underbed, underbedding